University  of 

IMncis  Library 

at  Urbana-Champaign 

ACES 


640 

IL61b 

v.8:15 


*SITY    OF     ILLINOIS    BULLETIN 

....  DEC.   12,    lit  10  NO.  X  V 

I  Entered    February  14.  l'JO'2.  at  I'rbana.  Illinois,  as  second-class  matter 
under  Act  of  Congress  of  July  10,  1894.] 


Department  of  Household  Science 

Some  Points  in  Choosing 
Textiles 


By 


Charlotte  M.  Gibbs,  M.  A. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY 

IKBANA-CHAMPAKIN 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

ACES 


fore/  z> 

Jl(>lb 

v.  ft'* 


SOME  POINTS  IN  CHOOSING  TEXTILES 

In  the  past  century  a  great  change  has  come  about  in  the 
position  of  the  woman  in  the  home,  which  has  very  vitally  af- 
fected her  relation  to  the  textile  industries.  In  the  early  days 
in  this  country  nearly  every  woman  produced  the  clothing  for 
herself  and  family,  also  the  household  linens,  from  the  raising 
of  the  sheep  or  rlax  to  the  finished  product.  Xow  all  is  changed ; 
with  the  introduction  of  ready-made  suits  and  other  garments 
even  the  sewing  is  rapidly  going  from  the  home,  while  the  manu- 
facture of  cloth  is  a  forgotten  art. 

In  olden  times  the  quality  of  home-spun  and  woven  ma- 
terial was  the  best  possible  to  be  obtained  from  the  materials  and 
methods  known.  Woolen  cloth  was  all  wool,  and  linen  cloth 
was  not  adulterated  with  starch,  or  half  cotton.  Honest  and 
durable  materials  were  the  rule  of  the  day. 

With  the  introduction  of  machinery  and  the  factory  system 
came  keen  competition.  Modem  discoveries,  chemical  and  other- 
wise have  increased  the  possibilities  of  cotton,  linen,  silk,  and 
wool  so  that  now  it  is  difficult  to  recognize  the  original  fiber  in 
some  of  the  materials  sold. 

Thus  on  the  one  hand  the  field  of  textile  knowledge  has 
grown  very  much,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  knowledge  of 
women,  concerning  textile  fabrics  has  decreased,  since  they  are 
no  longer  the  makers  of  cloth,  nor  do  they  always  gain  a  knowl- 
edge of  its  characteristics  through  the  making  of  garments.  The 
result  has  been  that  women  depend  more  and  more  on  the  word 
of  clerks,  who  are  often  as  ignorant  as  themselves,  until  by  pain- 
ful experience  the  buyers  learn  some  of  the  things  to  be  avoided. 

As  cost  of  living  increases,  and  demands  upon  the  family 
purse  increase,  it  is  more  and  more  important  that  the  woman 
of  the  household  should  know  how  to  spend  the  family  income 
most  economically.  Since  from  ten  to  twenty  percent  of  this 
income  is  spent  for  clothing  and  house  furnishing,  it  is  imperative 
that  more  thought  and  careful  study  should  be  put  upon  this 
branch  of  household  economy.  The  object  of  this  bulletin,  is  to 
give  some  bits  of  information  about  textile  fibers,  their  manufac- 
ture and  adulteration,  which  may  help  in  gaining  that  judgment 
in  buying  essential  to  every  woman. 

Certain  adulterations  and  devices  of  the  modern  manufac- 
turer are  so  skillfully  concealed  as  to  lie  detected  only  by  the  use 


of  chemical  tests,  or  the  high  power  microscope.  With  these  this 
bulletin  will  not  deal,  but  only  with  those  qualities  and  adulter- 
ations which  may  be  detected  without  the  aid  of  laboratory 
equipment.  Much  of  course  may  be  learned  by  experience,  but 
it  seems  better  to  save  time  and  money  by  knowing  beforehand 
what  is  to  be  demanded,  what  guarded  against. 

Each  one  of  the  common  materials  used  for  textile  fabrics, 
cotton,  linen,  wool  and  silk,  has  its  characteristics,  each  its 
definite  uses.  Certain  peculiarities  in  physical  or  chemical  nature 
make  each  fiber  peculiarly  adapted  to  certain  uses,  but  so  long  as 
these  general  qualities  are  maintained  the  variety  of  materials 
produced  from  these  fibers  may  be  enormous.  Combinations  of 
fibers  in  one  material,  adulteration  with  cheaper  fibers,  or  with 
starches  or  metallic  salts  may  serve  to  reduce  the  cost,  and  yet 
the  purpose  of  the  material  may  be  fulfilled.  For  certain  pur- 
poses the  materials  may  be  used  interchangeably. 

COTTON 

Cotton  is  cheap  and  very  plentiful.  It  has  short,  flat  fibers, 
with  a  spiral  twist,  thus  giving  elasticity  and  the  possibility  of 
being  spun  into  fine  thread.  Being  in  itself  very  useful  and  inex- 
pensive and  capable  of  replacing  to  a  certain  extent,  any  other 
fiber,  it  is  used  in  very  large  quantities  the  world  over,  and  is 
manufactured  into  a  great  variety  of  materials.  The  quality  of 
these  materials  depends  on  the  strength  of  the  fibers,  the  fineness 
or  coarseness  of  material,  the  weave,  the  color  and  design,  and 
the  adulterations. 

Cotton  being  cheapest  is  not  adulterated  with  any  of  the 
other  fibers  mentioned,  when  the  material  is  to  be  sold  as  cotton 
cloth,  but  it  can  be  made  to  appear  heavier  by  the  addition  of 
mixtures  called  sizing.  Starches,  gums,  dextrine,  glue,  china 
clay  as  well  as  other  ingredients  in  varying  proportions  consti- 
tute this  sizing  which  may  add  a  large  percent  to  the  weight  of  the 
cloth.  The  spaces  between  the  threads  are  rilled  up,  and  a  good 
finish  is  given  to  the  cloth,  although  the  wearing  quality  is  not 
increased.  If  present  in  large  quantities  the  cloth  is  greatly 
reduced  in  weight  and  firmness  after  the  first  washing. 

Adulterations  of  this  kind  can  be  detected  by  the  feeling,  a 
large  quantity  imparting  a  harshness  to  the  material.  In  very 
thin  fabrics  the  sizing  may  often  be  detected  by  holding  the  cloth 
up   to   the   light   when   the   starch   shows   between    the   threads. 


Washing  or  thorough  hoiling  of  a  sample  will  show  the  amount 
of  sizing  present. 

Another  method  of  adulterating  cotton  is  shown  in  certain 
kinds  of  dotted  Swiss.  A  good  swiss  has  thread  dots  woven  or 
embroidered  in  the  cloth.  Fig.  iA  shows  a  piece  of  material  sold 
at  the  price  of  a  good  swiss,  hut  in  this  case  the  dots  are  merely 
a  heavy  paste,  printed  onto  the  cloth.  Fig.  iB  shows  the  result 
of  continued  washing,  where  the  dots  have  disappeared,  and  Fig. 
it",  the  result  of  ironing  with  a  hot  iron,  which  turned  the  spots 
brown  before  the  cloth  itself  is  harmed. 

Mercerized  cotton  is  a  cloth  produced  by  the  action  of  a 
strong  alkali  on  cotton  fiber  rinsed  under  tension.  It  is  a  strong, 
attractive  material,  with  good  wearing  qualities.  An  imitation  of 
this  may  he  made  by  the  action  of  very  heavy  and  very  hot  cylin- 
ders on  ordinary  cotton  cloth.  The  mercerized  cloth  has  a  high 
luster  which  it  retains  after  many  washings  while  the  imitation 
loses  its  luster  with  the  first  washing. 

Sometimes  cotton  cloth  which  has  heen  on  the  market  for 
some  time  is  weakened  by  the  action  of  the  chemicals  used  in 
bleaching,  dyeing  or  in  the  sizing.  This  may  be  easily  detected 
by  tearing  the  cloth. 

Standard  cotton  materials  such  as  muslins,  organdies,  per- 
cales, calicoes,  sheetings,  differ  only  in  the  weight  of  the  material, 
fineness  of  thread,  hardness  of  twist  and  method  of  finish.  Ging- 
hams have  the  thread  dyed  before  weaving  and  fancy  weaves  are 
frequently  used.  Duck,  denim,  and  some  other  heavy  materials 
have  very  hard  twisted  threads  and  are  frequently  woven  with 
a  twill.  Silkolene  is  a  trade  name  for  a  fine  cotton  cloth  with  a 
silky  finish  given  after  the  cloth  is  woven. 

Mercerized  cottons  make  lustrous  materials  as  poplin,  imita- 
tion pongee  and  numerous  attractive  house  furnishing  materials. 

India  "linon"  is  entirely  cotton,  with  a  fleecy  surface  on  the 
wrong  side,  as  is  '"outing  flannel"  and  "canton  flannel". 

Many  "tussahs ",  "voiles"  and  "economy  linens"  and  other 
materials  with  rather  deceptive  names  are  cotton  materials  made 
to  imitate  silk,  wool  or  linen. 

LINEN 

Linen  was  formerly  the  most  important  vegetable  fiber,  and 
was  commonly  used  for  all  household  purposes.  Of  late  years 
it  has  been  largely  replaced  by  cotton  with  which  it  may  be  com- 


■Mmm 


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B 


■     --o»r- 


FIG.    I 


pared  although  there  arc  still  uses  for  which  we  demand  linen, 
and  others  for  which  we  prefer  linen  to  cotton. 

The  linen  fiber  is  long,  smooth  and  quite  lustrous,  when 
spun  into  a  thread.  It  is  very  strong  and  there  are  not  so  many 
fuzzy  end-,  as  are  found  in  cotton.  Cloth  made  from  it  is  not  only 
lustrous  and  rich  looking,  hut  because  of  its  smoothness  stays 
clean  longer  than  cotton.  The  snowy  whiteness  of  linen  obtained 
with  some  difficulty  in  bleaching  is  quite  permanent,  and  since 
the  fiber  takes  dyes  with  difficult}-  and  parts  with  them  quite 
readily,  it  also  does  not  retain  stains  as  persistently  as  cotton  does. 

Linen  is  much  more  expensive  than  cotton,  and  when 
linen  prices  are  paid  linen  should  be  demanded.  Since  the  two 
fibers  are  rather  hard  to  distinguish,  especially  when 
heavily  starched  and  given  a  good  finish,  it  is  quite  easy  to  de- 
ceive the  buyer.  "Linen"  collars  are  frequently  largely  cotton, 
"linen"  handkerchiefs  may  not  have  a  thread  of  linen,  as  is  apt 
to  be  the  case  with  rather  inexpensive  embroidered  handkerchiefs, 
and  table  "linen"  may  be  mercerized  cotton,  cotton  and  linen,  or 
even  ordinary  cotton. 

To  distinguish  linen  from  cotton,  examine  the  threads  care- 
fully; cotton  is  made  up  of  short  fibers  which  project  from  the 
surface  of  the  thread,  and  become  fuzzy  when  the  thread  is 
rubbed  between  the  fingers ;  when  broken,  cotton  has  a  tufted  end, 
while  the  linen  fibers  break  more  unevenly  and  leave  a  more 
pointed  end.  The  linen  thread  should  be  stronger  than  the  cot- 
ton ;  it  has  more  luster  and  is  usually  more  uneven.  Some  kinds 
of  linen  have  fiat  threads,  but  cotton  is  frequently  finished  in 
imitation  of  flat  thread  linen. 

The  old  test  of  moistening  the  finger  and  putting  it  under 
the  cloth  is  not  always  a  sure  one,  as  the  moisture  will  not  come 
through  a  heavy  linen,  or  one  with  much  starch  in  it,  and  it  will 
come  through  a  sheer,  tightly  twisted  cotton.  A  better  test  is  to 
put  a  drop  of  olive  oil  on  the  cloth  and  press  between  blotting 
papers.     The  linen  becomes  more  transparent  than  the  cotton. 

There  is  a  peculiar  leathery  feel  about  good  table  linen,  which 
cotton  will  not  give,  and  the  luster  is  different  although  the  dif- 
ference is  hard  to  describe. 

The  typical   weaves  used   for  linens,  are  as   follows:     The 

damask,  satin  or  sateen  weave  used  for  table  linens  and  towels 

specially  good   for  the   former  because  of   the  very  smooth 

lustrous  surface  it  affords,  but  not  so  good  for  towels  as  it  does 

not  absorb  moisture  very  readily,  although  it  is  very  attractive. 


8 

Huck,  an  uneven  weave,  giving  a  good  surface  for  the  absorp- 
tion of  water,  makes  splendid  towels,  and  decorated  with  designs 
in  damask  weave  may  be  very  handsome.  Many  linens  in  plain 
weaves  are  available  for  clothing,  embroidery,  etc.,  while  the 
coarse  Russian  crashes  are  becoming  quite  popular  for  decorative 
purposes. 

The  texture  of  linen  is  such  that  the  heavier  kinds  hang  well 
in  folds,  lie  flat  on  a  table,  and  are  very  artistic  for  many  pur- 
poses. 

WOOL 

Wool,  the  second  fiber  in  amount  used  for  clothing,  is  an 
animal  fiber  and  differs  greatly  from  the  vegetable  fibers  dis- 
cussed. Wool  from  the  sheep's  back  differs  from  hair  of  goats 
or  other  animals  in  several  ways.  Wool  is  very  curly,  and  pos- 
sesses a  scaly  structure  in  a  much  more  marked  degree  than  hair, 
in  which  the  external  scales  lie  flat.  The  surface  of  wool  has 
sometimes  been  compared  to  a  pine  cone,  or  the  scales  of  a  fish, 
although  these  two  are  quite  different.  The  scales  on  the  wool 
fiber  when  moist  and  warm  stand  up,  more  as  the  pine  cone, 
and,  when  cold  and  dry  or  cold  and  moist,  lie  flat.  This  peculiar 
structure  of  the  surface  of  the  wool  fibers  gives  them  the  prop- 
erty of  felting,  or  matting  very  closely  together.  Wool  is  also 
quite  elastic,  although  it  has  not  great  strength. 

Since  the  demand  for  woolen  cloth  far  exceeds  the  supply 
of  new  wool  there  are  many  devices  for  making  the  supply  go  a 
long  way,  and  consequently  many  methods  for  deceiving  the 
buyer.  In  adulterating  a  material  the  manufacturer  seeks  a 
material  cheaper  than  the  fiber  he  wishes  to  adulterate,  one 
which  can  be  concealed  readily.  Wool  when  combined  with  the 
cheaper  cotton  fiber  makes  a  material  which  wears  well,  but  does 
not  keep  its  shape  as  well  as  all  wool  cloth,  is  less  warm,  and 
should  of  course,  receive  a  lower  price  than  all  wool. 

Because  of  the  felting  property  of  wool  it  is  quite  possible 
to  conceal  a  good  deal  of  cotton  under  the  surface  of  the  woolen 
cloth,  and  when  the  fibers  are  mixed  before  the  threads  are  spun 
the  task  of  detecting  them  becomes  doubly  difficult. 

WOOLENS  AND  WORSTEDS 

Two  classes  of  cloth  are  manufactured  from  wool.  Woolens 
are  made  usually  of  short  wool  carded  and  spun  into  yarn  in 
which  the  threads  lie  in  all  directions.     This  is  woven  into  cloth 


which  usually  has  the  surface  heavily  felted,  so  that  all  of  the 
intersections  <>t"  threads  in  weaving  are  covered.  I  fere  then  is 
splendid  opportunity  for  adulteration,  since  cotton  or  poor  wool 
may  he  covered  up  by  the  surface  felting. 

WORSTED 

The  other  class  is  made  from  longer  staple  wool,  combed, 
and  drawn  until  the  fibers  are  parallel,  then  hard  twisted.  When 
woven  the  ends  of  the  threads  do  not  project  on  the  surface,  and 
the  finish  is  not  intended  to  cover  the  weave,  hence,  it  is  more 
difficult  to  adulterate  unless  entire  cotton  threads  are  woven  with 
the  worsted,  and  these  are  more  easily  detected  than  a  mixture 
of  cotton  and  wool,  or  shoddy  in  woolen  cloth.  Common  ex- 
amples of  woolens  are  flannels,  broadcloth  and  Venetian  cloth;  of 
worsteds  are  serge,  challie,  men's  suitings  and  voile.  Mohair  is 
a  worsted  cloth  woven  of  the  wool  of  the  Angora  goat,  with  a 
warp  usually  of  cotton  or  silk. 

The  most  reliable  tests  for  a  mixture  of  cotton  and  wool  are 
chemical  or  microscopic  ones,  but  as  these  are  not  practical  for 
the  average  buyer  others  must  be  sought.  Wool  has  luster,  and 
"kinks";  the  ends  of  the  threads  are  stiff  and  look  rather  wiry. 
When  a  sample  is  carried  home  burning  will  serve  to  distinguish 
between  the  two.  Wool  burns  slowly,  chars,  has  an  odor  of 
burnt  feathers,  goes  out  easily,  and  leaves  a  crisp  ash;  cotton 
burns  quickly  with  a  flame,  with  little  odor  and  leaves  no  ash. 

A  little  practice  in  breaking  the  threads  will  help  one  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  two;  the  difference  is  not  one  that  can  be 
easily  explained,  but  the  experienced  housewife  knows  it  well. 

Fig.  2 A  shows  a  sample  of  all  wool  cloth,  of  the  class  of 
worsteds  which  cost  seventy-five  cents  a  yard.  Fig.  215,  a  sample 
of  cloth  of  the  same  price,  called  by  the  clerk,  all  wool,  but  which 
on  examination  was  found  to  have  only  four  threads  of  wool  to 
every  twelve  threads  of  cotton.  Fig.  2C  shows  this  same  cloth 
with  the  wool  removed  by  a  strong  alkali,  caustic  potash,  leav- 
ing the  cotton.  Fig.  2D  shows  the  wool  left  when  the  cotton  has 
he  en  ravelled  out,  or  has  been  removed  by  a  strong  acid  solution. 
Fig.  3  shows  a  sample  of  mohair  in  which  the  wool  has  been 
partly  removed,  and  the  cotton  warp  is  left.  In  this  case  the 
price  is  not  high,  and  because  of  the  character  of  the  cloth  the 
mixture  is  a  good  one.  light,  smooth,  and  clean.  This  cloth  is 
not  sold  for  all  wool,  so  is  not  considered  adulterated. 


10 


FIG.   2 


1 1 

SHODDY 

A.s  has  been  said  before  the  demand  for  woolen  goods  is  so 
much  greater  than  the  supply  that  it  is  necessary  to  resort  to 
various  measures  to  increase  the  supply  of  cloth.  One  method  is 
to  use  the  wool  over  and  over  again.  Rags  are  bought  up  by  the 
rag  man,  sold  to  the  larger  dealer,  again  to  the  "shoddy"  manu- 
facturer who  cleans  them,  sorts  them,  tears  them  to  pieces,  using 
the  best  all-wool  rags  to  produce  fibers,  which  are  respun  and 
again  woven  either  separately,  if  of  very  good  quality,  or  mixed 
with  new  wool  or  cotton.  Such  a  material  is  warm,  looks  well 
for  a  time,  and  has  its  place,  but  must  not  be  bought  for  new 
wool,  or  demand  the  price  of  good  woolen  cloth.  This  industry 
is  enormous  and  shoddy  is  often  found  in  expensive  novelty  ma- 
terials as  well  as  in  cheap  "all-wool"  cloth.  Because  of  the  short- 
ness of  the  fibers  it  may  be  detected  readily,  when  used  alone,  but 
in  combination  with  good  wool  it  is  more  difficult. 

One  class  of  shoddy  consists  of  very  short  fibers,  clippings 
from  the  mills,  which  are  worked  into  the  surface  of  a  felted 
cloth  after  it  is  woven.  These  short  fibers  after  a  time  work  out, 
and  are  found  in  the  bottoms  of  coats,  inside  the  linings,  etc., 
leaving  the  surface  of  the  cloth  threadbare. 

Fig.  4  shows  a  piece  of  shoddy  cloth,  sold  for  all  wool  at 
fifty  cents  a  yard.  This  cloth  would  be  warm,  but  does  not  look 
as  well  as  more  expensive  cloth,  and  will  not  wear  as  long  as 
new  wool.  There  is  some  cotton  mixed  with  the  wool  before 
spinning,  therefore  it  is  difficult  to  detect. 

SII,.K 

Silk  is  frequently  known  as  the  fiber  or  luxury.  It  is  the 
most  expensive  to  cultivate,  the  most  beautiful  and  the  strongest 
fiber.  Since  it  is  the  most  expensive  fiber  to  buy,  and  the  demand 
for  it  is  so  great,  the  temptations  to  adulterate  are  also  naturally 
very  great.  The  long,  strong,  lustrous  silk  fiber  which  bleaches 
and  dyes  beautifully,  and  is  fine  as  a  spider's  web  is  not  to  be 
duplicated.  The  best  grade  or  "reeled  silk"  is  taken  from  the 
cocoon  in  one  continuous  thread  which  may  be  several  hundred 
yards  long.  In  manufacturing  reeled  silk  many  defective  cocoons 
are  found  in  which  the  fibers  are  not  perfect,  or  are  broken.  The 
silk  from  these  cocoons  may  be  treated  like  a  short  fiber  and  spun 
into  threads  varying  in  strength  according  to  the  length  of  the 
fibers.     This  so-called   "spun"   silk  has  not  the  high  luster  nor 


12 


FIG.  3 


FIG.  4 


13 

strength  of  "reeled"  silk,  but  is  often  used  as  warp  with  reeled 
silk  filling,  or  in  imitation  pongee,  and  back  of  satins,  velvets  and 
in  many  other  ways. 

In  olden  times  the  price  of  silk  was  much  greater  than  now, 
but  the  material  was  much  more  durable.  Silks  which  have  been 
laid  away  for  a  hundred  years  are  still  in  fairly  good  condition. 
Now  our  silks  are  much  cheaper,  but  the  result  is  that  when  they 
are  put  away,  even  for  only  a  few  months  they  may  fall  into 
bits,  and  their  wearing  quality  can  not  be  compared  with  the 
good  old  silks  of  long  ago.  The  reason  for  this  change  is  not 
hard  to  find.  The  cost  of  raw  silk  is  about  thirty  times  that  of 
raw  cotton  and  the  waste  at  least  five  times  that  of  cotton.  The 
manufacturer  must  make  up  in  some  way  if  he  is  to  sell  silk  at 
the  prices  demanded  by  the  public. 

Silk  has  a  very  great  ability  to  absorb  dyes  and  metallic 
salts  without  apparently  changing  the  quality  of  the  material,  and 
since  dyes  and  metallic  salts  are  much  cheaper  than  pure  silk, 
the  manufacturer  makes  great  use  of  these  materials.  Loading  is 
the  common  name  for  this  process  of  treating  silk  and  it  is  com- 
mon practice  to  add  thirty  percent  of  foreign  material,  just  the 
percent  lost  by  the  silk  when  the  gum  is  removed,  while  it  is  pos- 
sible to  add  two  hundred  fifty  or  even  three  hundred  percent. 

When  we  buy  novelties  and  do  not  care  how  short  their  life 
is  to  be,  these  heavily  weighted  silks  answer  the  purpose  very 
well,  but  when  we  wish  for  durability  and  the  silk  begins  to  crack 
and  split  or  to  become  shiny  after  a  few  wearings  we  realize  the 
disadvantage  of  our  modern  methods.  Practically  no  silk  can  be 
found  on  the  market  entirely  free  from  loading,  but  there  is  a 
great  difference  in  the  amount  present. 

Burning  is  the  simplest  test  for  good  silk ;  a  thread  of  pure 
silk  will  burn  slowly  leaving  as  it  burns  a  very  small  amount  of 
crisp  ash  in  a  ball  at  the  end  of  the  thread.  Heavily  weighted 
silk  burns  and  leaves  the  ash  in  the  form  of  the  original  thread; 
this  ash  of  course  drops  to  pieces  readily.  Fig.  5  A  shows  a  piece 
of  taffeta  sold  for  one  dollar  a  yard.  Fig.  5B  shows  the  result  of 
burning  the  silk.  This  ash,  left  in  the  shape  of  the  original  sam- 
ple, is  made  up  of  metallic  salts,  dvestuffs,  etc.  A  very  small 
percent  of  ash  would  be  left  from  the  silk  itself. 

Another  method  of  adulterating  silk  is  with  cotton.  The 
fibers  are  not  spun  together  here  as  the  cotton  and  wool,  but 
the  threads  of  the  two  materials  are  woven  together.  In  satins, 
velvets  and  brocades  the  cotton  is  entirely  covered  by  the  silk 
threads  on  the  surface,  and  appears  as  the  back  of  the  cloth.     In 


14 


FIG.  5 


is 

cheap  silks  a   fine  cotton  thread   sometimes   forms  either  warp 
or  filling. 

I  '<  >ngee  is  a  material  made  from  the  cocoon  of  the  unculti- 
vated silk  worm;  rajah,  tussah  and  other  uneven,  coarse  mater- 
ials are  from  the  same  source.  These  silks  are  very  strong,  hut 
do  not  have  a  high  luster.  Mercerized  cotton  looks  quite  silky 
and  is  sometimes  mixed  with  these  silks,  or  a  material  of  mer- 
cerized cotton  and  spun  silk  may  he  sold  for  pongee,  or  even  a 
material  entirely  of  mercerized  cotton. 

CONCLUSION 

To  sum  up,  the  adulterations  most  likely  to  be  found  and 
the  tests  for  them  are  as  follows  : 

METHOD   OF   ADULTERATION 

i.  By  combination.  Use  of  other  fibers  than  the  one  indi- 
cated by  the  name  of  the  material.  Example,  cotton  in  woolens, 
cotton  in  linens,  etc. 

2.  By  substitution.  Selling  one  fiber  under  the  name  of  an 
entirely  different  one.  Example,  mercerized  cotton  sold  for  silk 
or  linen. 

3.  By  increasing  the  weight  of  a  material,  a.  Cottons  and 
linens  with  starch  ;  b,  silks  with  metallic  salts  and  dyes. 

4.  By  giving  a  finish  which  is  deceptive,  a.  Heavy  pressing 
or  calendering  an  ordinary  cotton  to  imitate  mercerizing ;  b,  fin- 
ishing cotton  to  look  like  linen  ;  c,  printing  paste  dots  on  cotton 
to  produce  the  effect  of  embroidered  dotted  swiss. 

5.  By  use  of  made-over  yarns.  Example,  shoddy  in  wool- 
ens, also  addition  of  short  wool,  felted  in  surface. 

TESTS  FOR  ADULTERATION 

1.  Examination  of  cloth  to  see  if  all  threads  are  alike,  and 
to  distinguish  kind  of  thread. 

2.  Examination  of  individual  threads. 

(  lotton  :  short  libers,  ends  appear  fuzzy  in  thread. 

Wool:   short   libers,   decidedly  kinky  and  stiff. 

Silk:  long  straight  libers  with  luster;  if  spun  silk,  fibers 

short;  thread  looks  more  like  cotton;  breaks  more 

easily  than  reeled  silk. 


i6 

Linen:  strong  threads;  high  luster;  when  broken,  ends 
very  uneven  and  straight. 

3.  Burning  tests :  a.  Cotton  burns  quickly  with  flame ;  b, 
wool  burns  slowly,  chars,  gives  off  odor  of  burnt  feathers ;  c,  silk 
burns  slowly,  leaves  small  crisp  ash,  and  when  weighted  leaves 
more  ash ;  d,  linen,  similar  to  cotton. 

4.  Linen  if  without  much  starch,  becomes  translucent  when 
treated  with  olive  oil ;  cotton  remains  opaque. 

5.  A  mixture  of  cotton  and  wool  when  wet,  wrinkles  more 
than  pure  wool. 

6.  A  careful  examination  of  the  finish  of  the  material.  Ob- 
serve if  alike  on  both  sides,  if  the  apparent  beauty  of  the  material 
is  due  to  finish  or  to  good  quality  of  material. 

Finally,  the  best  grades  of  material  are  generally  what  they 
seem  to  be ;  although  this  does  not  always  hold  true  in  silks,  nor 
in  materials  where  the  effect  is  more  important  than  the  wear- 
ing quality.  Expensive  broadcloths,  worsted  suitings,  expensive 
table  linens,  goocr  cottons,  do  not  pose  for  more  than  their  true 
worth.  It  is  when  one  turns  to  novelties,  to  silks  and  to  inex- 
pensive materials  that  one  needs  to  be  most  vigilant.  Be  sure 
the  inexpensive  is  not  cheap,  unless  you  want  a  material,  cheap  in 
wearing  quality  and  appearance,  as  well  as  in  cost. 

OTHER  POINTS  IN  BUYING 

Aside  from  the  question  of  whether  the  buyer  is  getting  the 
kind  of  material  she  pays  for  as  to  character  of  the  fiber,  there 
are  other  things  to  be  considered  in  chosing  textile  fabrics. 

The  weave  affects  the  appearance  and  often  the  wearing 
quality  of  cloth.  A  close  twill  weave  makes  a  firm,  durable  ma- 
terial, while  the  loose  basket  weave  gives  quite  a  different  effect 
and  is  frequently  lacking  in  firmness.  The  satin  or  sateen  weave 
makes  a  beautiful  surface  especially  in  linens  or  silks,  but  may 
cover  up  defects  in  the  hidden  threads.  Fancy  weaves  in  cotton 
novelties,  in  shirt  waist  materials  and  in  fancy  mulls,  etc.,  often 
leave  loose  threads  which  become  soiled  easily  and  may  not  be  as 
attractive  after  washing.  A  cloth  with  a  very  heavy  cross  thread 
or  filling,  and  a  very  fine  warp,  or  vice  versa,  may  split  because 
of  the  great  difference  in  the  strength  of  the  threads. 

Sometimes  figures  are  woven  in  such  a  way  that  when  the 
cloth  is  finished  each  figure  has  short  ends  of  thread.  For  ex- 
ample, in  weaving  madras  curtain  material,  the  filling  thread 
which  makes  the  figure,  jumps  from  one  figure  to  another,  and 


'7 

after  the  material  leaves  the  loom  the  loose  threads  are  cut  off 
of  the  back  of  the  matt-rial.  ( )ften  these  short  pieces  wash  out 
or  the  ends  become  rough  and  fuzzy  looking. 

In  choosing  a  material  from  the  large  variety  on  the  market 
the  first  thing  to  be  determined  is  the  use  to  which  it  is  to  be  put, 
then  determine  .vhat  is  appropriate  to  that  use.  The  cloth  which 
is  suitable  tor  a  street  suit  i-  obviously  not  suited  to  the  party 
gown,  neither  are  laces  of  dressy  waists  appropriate  for  working 
clothes.  Clothes  that  are  to  he  worn  constantly  need  to  be  of 
material  that  will  stand  frequent  cleaning.  In  materials  used  in 
house  furnishing  certain  ones  must  be  cleaned  often,  and  unless 
one  can  afford  to  pay  frequent  cleaner's  hills,  washable  mater- 
ials are  better  for  curtains,  bed-spreads,  table-covers,  etc.  The 
cost  is  the  next  point  to  be  considered,  and  that  must  necessarily 
be  determined  by  one's  purse.  It  is  not  always  economy,  how- 
ever, to  buy  the  inexpensive  things,  for  as  we  have  seen  the  in- 
expensive articles  are  more  likely  to  be  the  cheap  ones.  With  our 
desire  for  continual  change,  our  love  of  novelty  and  fad  we  have 
become  very  extravagant.  So  long  as  the  fashion  demands  new 
garments  every  few  months  and  women  attempt  to  follow  the 
styles,  they  must  choose  inexpensive  materials  unless  they  have  a 
large  amount  of  money,  and  care  nothing  for  wearing  quality. 
In  the  end.  however,  the  woman  who  buys  carefully,  makes  use 
of  conservative  styles  which  do  not  change  every  few  months, 
chooses  handsome  material,  is  not  only  more  economically,  but 
also  usually  better  dressed. 

The  hygienic  properties  of  materials  should  be  carefully 
considered.     Those  next  the  body  should  be  able  to  care  for  the 

piration  and  the  excretions  of  the  skin.  Woolen  and  silk  are 
best  suited  by  their  physical  structure  to  do  this,  but  wool  is  too 
warm  and  too  irritating  to  many  people,  and  does  not  wash  well, 
while  silk  is  too  expensive.  Many  kinds  of  cotton  underwear 
have  been  manufactured  which  by  their  structure  aid  in  absorbing 
moisture.  Underwear  knitted  or  woven  with  meshes  containing 
large  enclosed  air  spaces  is  more  hygienic  than  closely  woven 
cotton  garments.  The  air  spaces  in  the  mesh  material  are  non- 
conductors  of  heat,  and  also  ventilators.  The  closely  woven  gar- 
ment does  not  allow  a  change  of  air  next  the  skin  and  becomes 
clammy  when  moist.  Garments  which  come  in  contact  with  the 
outside  air  must  he  more  closely  woven  to  keep  out  the  wind. 
Two  layer--  of  lighter  weight  material  are  warmer  than  one  layer 
<>f  thick  because  of  the  non-conducting  air  between.  I  [eavy  clothes 


i8 

are  bad  for  the  body  because  of  the  extra  load  which  must  be 
carried  about. 

Finally,  in  choosing  materials  if  one  is  to  have  the  greatest 
pleasure  from  them  and  give  one's  friends  the  greatest  pleasure, 
color  and  design  are  very  important.  Colors  should  be  suitable 
to  the  use,  and  to  the  person  who  is  to  wear  the  material.  Bright 
colors  make  one  conspicuous,  and  are  exciting;  dull  ugly  colors 
are  depressing,  while  soft  rich  colors  are  elegant,  becoming,  and 
in  good  taste. 

Designs  should  fit  the  place  in  which  they  are  to  be  used. 
Rugs  should  be  so  designed  that  they  serve  as  a  background  to 
the  furniture  of  the  room  as  well  as  add  richness  in  color  and 
some  variety.  Materials  which  are  to  hang  in  folds  should  have 
designs  which  do  not  depend  on  smoothness  of  surface  in  order 
that  they  may  be  effective.  For  clothing,  designs  should  be  in- 
conspicuous, modest  stripes,  dots  and  plaids  being  most  success- 
ful, except  on  very  soft  thin  materials  when  larger  and  less  con- 
ventional designs  may  be  used. 

To  be  an  intelligent  buyer  it  is' necessary  then  that  the  wo- 
man know  before  she  purchases  a  piece  of  cloth  just  where  it  is 
to  be  used,  just  what. she  can  afford  to  pay  for  it,  what  she  should 
be  able  to  get  for  that  amount  of  money  and  then  be  able  to  tell 
whether  the  piece  of  cloth  she  buys  is  really  what  it  is  represented 
to  be.  At  the  present  time  the  rush  to  the  bargain  counter,  the 
enormous  amount  of  cheap,  poor  material  manufactured,  and 
the  great  waste  in  dress,  all  go  to  prove  that  there  are  many  wo- 
men who  are  not  intelligent  buyers. 

When  women  demand  a  better  quality  of  materials  and  re- 
fuse to  buy  the  cheap  things,  the  manufacturers  will  cease  to 
produce  worthless  things.  Perhaps  however,  before  that  day  ar- 
rives the  thoughtful  workers  of  the  land  will  have  succeeded  in 
passing  a  pure  textile  law,  which  shall  do  for  our  cloth  what  the 
pure  food  act  is  doing  for  our  food  supplies,  then  the  honest 
though  ignorant  buyer  will  be  protected,  but  it  will  still  be  her 
part  to  demand  good,  artistic  and  useful  materials. 


UNIVERSfTY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112  096200511 


MM 


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